Zagazoo - Hardcover

Quentin Blake

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 022404723X ISBN 13: 9780224047234

Publisher: Jonathan Cape, London, 1998

Synopsis

A little creature, pretty as can be, arrives one day at George and Bella's happy home. Its name is Zagazoo. The Zagazoo is, truth be told, not perfect, yet his little smile brings the couple joy. But Zagazoo never stays the same for long. In time, the little darling becomes a screeching vulture (whose cries are especially piercing at night), then an accident-prone elephant, and later a mud-loving warthog. On it goes, until, finally, Zagazoo is transformed into the most surprising creature of all!! Renowned for his exceptional picture books, Quentin Blake offers his own zany take on the stages of childhood in this story that all Zagazoos, current and former, will relish. Quentin Blake is one of the most popular children's book illustrators of our time.

About this title

Review

George and Bella are a happy couple who spend their days making model airplanes, cleaning house, and eating strawberry and vanilla ice cream. When one day a mysterious package arrives with a cute little thing inside called Zagazoo, George and Bella are mystified but happy. He may not be perfect, but his smile makes up for occasional wet diapers. But one day they wake up to find that Zagazoo has turned into a baby vulture with terrifyingly loud screeches, especially at night. Then another day he is a small elephant knocking everything over. And then a warthog, rolling in anything that looks like mud. Then a bad-tempered dragon. Every day, it seems, Zagazoo is metamorphosing, and George and Bella don't know how they can keep up. What more does this changeling have in store for them?

Quentin Blake is one of the most popular children's book illustrators of our time. A long-time collaborator with Roald Dahl (and many other acclaimed authors) in such picture books as the Whitbread Award-winning The Witches, Blake's eminently recognizable style is humorous and deliciously sly. His utterly charming allegory of childhood's wonderfully horrible (or horribly wonderful) stages will ring true to Zagazoos former and present. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter

From Kirkus Reviews

Blake's take on the stages of childhood is entertainingly offbeat but right on target. George and Bella spend many happy days making model airplanes, dusting, and eating ice cream, but it's no surprise that their baby, Zagazoo, is delivered in a lumpy postal parcel. George and Bella add another activity to their happy days``throwing [Zagazoo] from one to the other.'' One morning, the pretty little baby has become a large baby vulture with terrifying screeches, highly vocal at night. At their wit's end, they get a reprieve when the vulture turns into a small, unwittingly destructive elephant, but the transformations are not over. Zagazoo is next a mud-loving warthog, a fire-breathing dragon, and so on, until one day he is a young man with perfect manners and a liking for the young Mirabelle. They are united, but George and Bella have transformed into a pair of feather-dropping, eyeglass-wearing, saggy-chinned brown pelicans. The great arc of life, according to Blake, is happiness to horrors to happiness, with a great dose of the unknown to keep everyone guessing. This book is hilarious, and parents and children will be nodding in recognition as Zagazoo grows up and as his parents growhappier. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Jonathan Cape, London
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 022404723X
• ISBN 13: 9780224047234
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32